If there was any doubt that the world, not just the United States, is in the worst financial crisis since The Great Depression, it is now gone.

Staid Merrill Lynch is now just another division of Bank of America, which dangerously weakened itself - with the Feds' blessing - in a bid to buy the firm. 

Lehman Brothers seems doomed to die barring a last minute white knight.  The Feds are drawing a line in the blood soaked sand, refusing to bail out the firm as it did with Bear Stearns by making guarantees to JPMorgan when it purchased Stearns.

Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae had to be seized to prevent collapse.  No one really knows how much that will really cost the weary US Taxpayer.  Guesstimates peg the number around $200,000,000,000.

All because of what was then an innocent sounding set of mortgage related financial vehicles - CDO's - Collateralized Debt Obligations and SIV's - Structured Investment Vehicles.  Both a form of an over-arching, primarily institutional, investment schema generally known as "derivatives".  The financial sector big wigs never paused to consider the inevitable - what goes up, must come down.  And so, because of the ego, hubris, and careless stupidity of a few, many will suffer.

What is happening now will be studied by economists around the globe for several generations.  The seemingly carefully crafted, complex relationships that comprise the macro economy are coming unglued.  The artful mathematical equations explaining the intricacies of economic tidal forces seem more art these days than cerebral genius.   Whether the Western Powers can prevent the machine completely breaking down remains to be seen.  We hope they find a way.  Lord, hear our prayer. 

Meanwhile, we pause to think of the tens of thousands of work-a-day people who have had, or will have, their lives thrown into turmoil.  All because a handful of old-boy-club jackasses, who thought they were infallible and could do no wrong, wronged so big, so badly, that we will count ourselves fortunate if we make it out of this mess without falling into an abyss. 

Good luck to us all.